During
by BlackRose108
Summary: Beach walks, kissing, and confusion. It's all inside, folks. KATAANG.


**And another oneshot experimenting with what could have happened during **_**The Ember Island Players**_**. **

**And for any of you who read Fire War Renaissance, updates will be on Fridays. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

During

She wanted nothing more than to make him happy once again. He seemed in such dismay over the play in Ember Island when Katara went to go check on him and he expressed his anger towards him not mastering the avatar state she was hit with a mysterious burst of motivation to see him smile.

"A walk on the beach should clear your head." She suggested after many silent moments. He looked up at her, an almost pleading look in his eyes. Then he forced a smile across his lips and nodded.

"Alright."

The walk to the beach was silent. Aang's scrunched face proved that he was deep in thought about something, and Katara was determined to find out what.

"Is something wrong, Aang?" She asked once again. That was her first line towards him when she went out to check on him, and he had answered, saying he hated the play. But, obviously something was wrong with him that wasn't just about mastering the avatar state and blocking his chakra. He looked up at as if he was snapped out of a trance and opened his mouth to talk, but no words came out. "You can tell me, you know." She assured him, placing a hesitant hand on her shoulder but he shrugged it off. The motion was slight, but enough for her to get the point.

"When you were in the cave with Zuko," he started silently, "and you said you thought of me as a brother," Katara's eyes widened, "you didn't mean it," He looked up at her, "did you?"

"I never said that, Aang, an actress did." She explained to him, carefully. He seemed very on edge at the moment.

"But," he swallowed. "It's true, I know it is, or else we wouldn't be here like this."

"Like what?"

"Not a couple." He said more loudly than the tone for the past few minutes. He met Katara's gaze with uncertain eyes to her dilated ones. She was visibly stunned.

"Wh-what?'

"We kissed during the invasion Katara, and I thought when you kissed me back that it meant you felt the same way. I understood the first couple days of us not talking after we lost, but it's been weeks, Katara." He exclaimed. "When are we going to talk about this?" Katara took her time answering. She didn't want to beat the situation more than it was already bruised. But his eyes were burning through her, she could tell even when she wasn't looking at him.

"Aang," she sighed. "When you kissed me…it…it turned everything in my head upside down. Up until then I was perfectly content with just being a friend to you, but then when you kissed me I…I liked it."

"You did?" Aang asked, not even trying to hide the satisfied smile on his face. She nodded, biting her lip.

She supposed that she wasn't surprised when he stepped towards her, grabbing her shoulder and standing on his toes.

"Aang," she whispered when he leaned in, lip slightly puckered. "I-" he shushed her with a light finger on her lips, and the next thing she felt was his mouth enclosing hers, just as warm and soft as she had remembered.

It wasn't like she wanted to fight it, and she had already come to the conclusion that if he did kiss her again she probably wouldn't push him away. She didn't do it the first time.

And when they parted, so many moments later, she was out of breath, panting onto his cheek and hoisting him up with her hands on his upper back so his toes were barely glancing the ground. He kissed her again, burying his hands in her hair and sinking deeper into her mouth.

The rest was a fog.

Katara didn't think it actually happened. Usually when people explained kissing they always say they didn't remember much but the feeling, but she just thought that was completely illogical and only said to create the romantic illusion. But when they had been standing there for a while, only the sound of the waves and their sighs indicating that they weren't dreaming, it was all too easy to lose one's thought.

So after however much time passed and they finally spread apart for what seemed to be a break she had to shake her head, and remember who she was, how old she was, and shake the thought that the only thing that existed and mattered was Aang's lips. He seemed to be suffering with the same problem, and when they both came back to reality they smiled.

And they were back at it.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

She felt a kiss on her head, and opened her eyes. She was still there on the beach, tucked protectively against his cheek and ear.

"I love you, Katara," she heard Aang say, after he kissed her forehead.

_That_ took her out of her daze in a micro-second.

"You love me?" She repeated, sounding like it was joke, though she didn't mean to.

"Um…" his eyes darted for a moment. "Yes."

"No…no, that can't be right." She told herself, but it seemed to be voiced out loud.

"What do mean that can't be right? We just spent the last hour on a beach kissing, what did you expect me to say."

"I was expecting a let's talk tomorrow."

"Why can't we just talk now?"

"…Okay." She sighed, running her finger through her hair. "So you love me and…"

"…And you…?" Aang probed.

"…Are confused."

"Confused?"

"Very."

Aang breathed. "Alright, what are you confused about?"

"If I love you or not." Katara had always considered the thought of her loving Aang, and had come to conclusion quite awhile ago that being his friend was what was best for the time being. But that was back when they were still at Ba Sing Si. So much had changed since then. She decided to scrutinize him from under her lashes. Gazing at the person she could, for all she knew, spend the rest of her life with.

"So," Aang breathed after some time. "Do you?" His breathing was very irregular at the moment, obviously nervously awaiting her answer. "If you need more time to think, I can wait, you know." His nervousness was rewarded with a somewhat cheery smile from Katara, and she chose then to answer him.

But not with words.

And Aang's breathing became even more irregular, but for an entirely different reason this time.

**Eh………that was weird. **

**Why it's called "During": Because it's **_**during **_**episode 317. Haha…ha…oy. **

**I'm tired. **

**(Reviews are always welcome.) **


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